Darien Head Coach Rob Trifone celebrates with his team following a 36-23 drubbing of New Canaan. New Canaan, which led 14-0 in the first quarter was man handled by the Blue Wave the rest of the way. It was Darien's first Turkey Day win since the 2001.
Photo: J. Gregory Raymond

Darien Head Coach Rob Trifone celebrates with his team following a...

Darien High School running back Nick Mussicco scoots aroung left end for a short gain as he attempts to elude New Canaan defenders including Max Wilson (#24). Led by Henry Baldwin's play calling and direction, the Blue Wave dominated play, winning the annual Turkey Bowl game 36- 23, for the first time since 2001.
Photo: J. Gregory Raymond

Darien High School running back Nick Mussicco scoots aroung left...

Henry Baldwin of Darien is hit by New Canaan outside linebacker Alexander Dobbin during first quarter action in Darien. Baldwin, who was the MVP of the game, led Darien to a 36-23 win, Darien's first Turkey Day win in 11 years.
Photo: J. Gregory Raymond

Henry Baldwin of Darien is hit by New Canaan outside linebacker...

Darien signal caller Henry Baldwin looks for a receiver downfield during the annual Turkey Day game
against New Canaan on Thanksgiving Day. Baldwin led his team to a 36-23 win and was named MVP of the game.
Photo: J. Gregory Raymond

Darien signal caller Henry Baldwin looks for a receiver downfield...

Darien RB Nick Lombardo hauls in a Henry Baldwin touchdown pass for a score as New Canaan defender Grady Lynch defends. The Blue Wave won the Turkey Day game for the first time in 11 years, clobbering New Canaan, 36-23.
Photo: J. Gregory Raymond

New Canaan QB Teddy Bossidy bowls over Darien defender PeterGesualdi for a short gain during FCIAC action in Darien. The Blue Wave, which fell behind 14-0 would soon dominate play on both sides of the ball to win 36-23.
Photo: J. Gregory Raymond

New Canaan QB Teddy Bossidy bowls over Darien defender...

New Canaan defensive back Grady Lynch makes a one handed interception of a fourth quarter pass during gridiron action against Darien on Thursday. Darien, which fell behind New Canaan early, 14-0, would woon dominate play as they won, 36-23. It was Darien's first Turkey Day win since 2001.

Photo: J. Gregory Raymond

New Canaan defensive back Grady Lynch makes a one handed...

Darien High School running back Peter Gesualdi cuts back against the grain for a sizeable gain as New Canaan defender Max Wilson attempts to tackle. Led by an MVP performance by QB Henry Baldwin, Darien won convincingly, 36-23.
Photo: J. Gregory Raymond

Darien High School running back Peter Gesualdi cuts back against...

A young Darien High School fan takes a photo on her i phone during the annual Turkey Day game against New Canaan on Thursday. Darien won the game, 36-23.
Photo: J. Gregory Raymond

DARIEN -- After seeing his team fall into yet another early deficit against archrival New Canaan on Thanksgiving morning, Darien coach Rob Trifone knew he would likely need to make an aggressive call or two to get the Blue Wave back in the game.

Already in a two-touchdown hole and facing a fourth-and-10 at the New Canaan 35 with the second quarter just under way, Trifone opted to keep his offense on the field, and quarterback Henry Baldwin rewarded his coach's confidence by launching a 35-yard scoring strike down the center of the field to Nick Lombardo for Darien's first points in its 36-23 Turkey Bowl victory -- its first over New Canaan since 2001.

The fourth down score cut New Canaan's lead to 14-8 after Baldwin connected with Jackson Whiting for a two-point conversion.

"I know this: The turkey is going to taste a heck of a lot better than it did the last several years," Darien coach Rob Trifone said. "(Coming back from 14-0) is the character of this team. That was our philosophy coming in is that we're the underdog every year and we're just going to go at them."

If Darien hadn't completely seized the game's momentum at that point, it certainly did on New Canaan's following possession.

Facing a third-and-four at its own 33, New Canaan quarterback Nick Cascione sprinted left on an option play, but a pitch intended for his tailback was picked out of the air by Darien's Myles Ridder, who raced 26 yards untouched for Darien's second touchdown in 54 seconds. As soon as Darien kicker Daly Hebert made the first of his four extra points, Darien (7-3) had a lead it would not relinquish.

"They really took it to us today and they deserved to win. They were down 14-0 and could have said `here we go again' and they just kept fighting," New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli said. "We gave them a touchdown. If you shoot yourself in the foot, you're not going to be able to win the game, especially against a good team."

After New Canaan punted on its next possession, Darien went 72 yards in 13 plays, capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass from Baldwin to Whiting, who beat his man on a sideline route for a 22-14 lead, which was also the score at halftime.

"We knew we were going to have to take shots in this game if we were going to win," said Baldwin, the game's MVP. "

Whiting later added an interception at his own one-yard line to snuff out New Canaan's last drive of the first half.

After receiving the second half kickoff, Darien boosted its lead to 29-14 when Baldwin threw a 30-yard bomb to Lombardo on another fourth-and-10 hookup. Baldwin found Lombardo for a second 30-yard connection for a 36-14 lead with 10:37 left in the fourth.

On New Canaan's next possession, however, the Darien defense forced a turnover on downs on its own 8-yard line. The Blue Wave ran down the clock and eventually took an intentional safety with just 20 seconds remaining.

New Canaan (8-2) lost a chance at home in next week's Class L playoffs. The Rams fell to No. 6, setting up a quarterfinal macthup at No. 3 Avon on Tuesday.

"I hate to see this group end their season on something like this, but they've been so good all season long," Marinelli said. "Hopefully, we can win a few games in the tournament."

There will be no postseason for Darien, but snapping a winless streak against its rival was the perfect way to go out.

"I've been coming to the Turkey Bowl since I was little, and every year we come up short," Baldwin said. "...We played our championship today, and we ended up coming out on top."